Autor: Prof. Univ. Dr. Ing. Ioan BONDREA
From cremation to inhumation: the (re)Christianization of the Transylvanian area (centuries 7 – 10 A.D.)
The chronological limits (7th – 10th centuries) that were defined are covering the entire “Slavization” and its subsequent Christianization process within the Transylvanian space. Both phases have influenced the shaping of a cultural Transylvanian distinctiveness. Cultural and religious features belonging to the autochthonous population were caught up by those belonging to local ethnic groups. The archaeological research between the 1960’s and 1980’s was interested in finding the necessary tools that were able to force the archaeological object to reveal information about the ethnicity of its “maker” or “master”. This assumed archaeological objects’ ethnic load theory became a postulate of the Romanian history. Therefore, the romans and later on the Daco-Romans are archaeological traceable by means of their holding on to a certain funerary rite “conservatism”. The ancient society was characterized by its bi-ritualism. The latter was documented within the empire’s Danube provinces starting with the 1st century B.C. The bi-ritualism was given up starting with the 3rd century A.D. during the rise of barbarian kingdoms within the former Roman provinces: Moesia Inferior, Dacia and Pannonia. The re-birth of this funerary rite was acknowledged during the rise of the Avars’ authority within the Pannonia plain and the emergence of Slavic populations within central and south-eastern Europe. The proportion of inhumation and cremation burial grounds in Transylvania favors the first ones (the cremation burial grounds). The proportion expresses a different point of view in Moldavia or Wallachia where the number of inhumation burial grounds is higher than the number of cremation ones. Therefore, one can conclude that the political influence of the Byzantine Empire was always of high importance in the Lower Danube region and was emphasized by the religious influence after the 8th century. This century marks the rise of the eastern Christian communities.
Keywords: Transylvania, early Middle Ages, Christianity, cremation and inhumation necropolis.
The presence of the arpadian coins discovered inthe churchyard cemeteries from Transylvania
The goal of the paper is to provide an inventory and an analysis of the coins discovered during the archaeological excavations on medieval churchyards situated in Transylvania. So, at this research stage, it stands out a differentiation between churchyards from the north-central Transylvania and those from southern Transylvania, except Haţeg Land. In the first case are present arpadian coins from the 11th century, in the second case the oldest coins are from Geza II. In our analysis, we observe that most of the coins are placed on the mouth in the 11th and the 12th centuries, rarely, the coins are putted in the hand. There are no concrete cases in which the coin is putted on the sternum. Another feature of those churchyards it is the dominance of the graves without inventory, also the rarity of the burials with coins. We observed that the anonymous denars dominate the monetary horizon in the 12th century. We should note the case of Geoagiu de Jos, where is a big number of coins issued by Coloman. The coin presence in graves as Obolus is more rarely beginning with the mid of the 13th century. The coins from the second part of the 13th century are almost missing. It is also noted that some coins from graves were cut or torn; it is possible that these coins have been prepared so to be part of the funeral ritual, which possible mean a symbolic destruction of the object.
Keywords: Arpadian Coins, Graveyard, Churches, Transylvania, the 12th and 13th Centuries
Saxon Romanesque Architecture from Transylvanian through View of a few Case Studies
In this study we present three, very suggestive, case studies about the gradual development of the Romanesque style from the German settlement located in southern Transylvania. The first analyzed monument is the church of Cisnădioara (built beginning with the end of 12th Century). This is the oldest Romanesque monument which was kept unchanged until our days and is one of the main elements in the evolution of Romanesque architecture in Transylvania. The second investigated monument is basilica from Alţâna; it was built in the first half of 13th Century and has more elaborated shapes than Cisnădioara. The third and the final monument that interested us is basilica with gallery from Cincu; this is the largest and most sumptuous Romanesque church of the Saxons, being more advanced as a concept than those from Sibiu and Cisnădie.
Keywords: Romanesque Architecture, Basilica, 13th Century, Transylvania, Cisnădioara, Alţâna, Cincu
“Tree of Life” in the Portals of Saxon Churches from Ocna Sibiului, Vurpăr, Drăuşeni
Among complex scenes, which appear on the portals oh Romanesque churches built by German Saxons in Transylvania, several sculptures are focused on the theme of tree of life. Versions that occur in this geographical area have several features, developed from formal models coming from the original places of the Saxon colonists, integrated in monuments built in their new settlements. In terms of iconography, the image of the tree of life was one of the best ways to highlight the valorization of zoomorphic elements in new versions, presented at churches from Ocna Sibiului, Vurpăr and Drăuşeni.
Keywords: Church, Saxons, iconography, Romanesque, portal, sculpture, tree of life, Vurpăr, Ocna Sibiului, Drăuşeni, Transylvania, Sibiu County
Fortified curch of Nou/Neudorf (Sibiu district). Decline of a monument
In 1967 the curches belonging to the Saxons, and not only, passed, at the request of the Cult Department, to an estate inventory proces concerning every parish. The introduction consisted of a brief history of the town and curch. Later on, they started to inventory the next: precious metal objects, objects with great history and documentary value, objects wich
have artistic and historic value, buildings and constructions owned by the parish, lands, wich are as well, owned by the parish, common goods for inventory, as well books manuscripts and historical and literature documents. The location of most objects is currently unknown, most of the things are missing, from the evanghelical parish possesions from Nou. We can only hope the their faith is one at their worth, and again, hopefully, are expose on the shelves
of a museum.
Keywords: Transylvania, Nou/Neudorf, fortified church, Saxons, inventory
Lutheran Fortified Church of Ighişu Nou. Historical Research
The article aims to present the history and architectural characteristics of the fortified church from Ighişul Nou, one of the most important churches of the Transylvanian Saxons. Firstly there are some references to the history and to the progress of the researches that have taken place until this moment. After a general presentation of the important parts (church, enclosure wall of the church, outbuildings), there are listed and briefly described the important values found here as the stone architectural details, furniture etc. An important place among these represents recent discovered medieval mural paintings, dating from 14th-15th century, which will be soon restored and valorized. Finally, there is a review of the further development of the church, recent repairs, including the last major rehabilitation from 2012-2013, realized with European funds within the large project that included 18 fortified churches – “Fortified rediscovered Treasures”.
Keywords: Transylvanian Saxon fortified church, Late Gothic Style, fortified choir, enclosure wall, medieval mural paintings, Ighişul Nou village.
The heritage of protestant church “St. Maria” from Cisnădioara.
Diary of a monument
We want to emphasize that the purpose of this article is to:
– highlight the first existence of the medieval parish church, probably originally built in Romanesque style, then change one Gothic and completely replaced in 1764 with a baroque one;
– make known certain items/components of particular value which are kept in the church.
So the study will include a catalog of goods that make up the current assets of the church, related to their function in the church or the religious service. The final article will be character rather of an investigation, or in terms expressive of a diary of an ecclesiastical monument from 20th-21st century.
The focus of this study will fall on the completion and data correlation known about the stages of construction of the building and especially about the heritage of the protestant parish church from Cisnădioara (St. Mary), who despite radical structural transformations in the eighteenth century, it has held / holds rich liturgical inventory and church furniture.
Keywords: Heritage, middle ages, Transylvania, Cisnădioara, St. Mary Church, arhin.ro
Historical Informations regarding the Black Church in Braşov (Kronstadt), in the oldest Saxon Chronicles of Transylvania (from the 16th century)
Preparing a critic edition of the oldest Transylvanian-Saxon chronicles of Braşov (and, in the same time, of entire Transylvania), dating from the 16th century, I selected and extracted from the 6 texts, all the information regarding historical monuments and cities, as ensembles of monuments. Because these narrative sources were written in Braşov, the most information are referring to buildings and monuments from Braşov (both, civil and military buildings) but also to monuments from Ţara Bârsei (Burzenland) and from entire Transylvania (such as fortified churches, the Castle of Făgăraş, Beclean Castle, etc.). The same chronicles are referring even to monuments from Sibiu and Bucharest (the princely palace, fortified by the voivode Mircea Ciobanul). In the present article I selected and extracted from the mentioned chronicles all information regarding the main parish Church of Braşov (known as the Black Church, after the Great City Fire from 1689), trying to establish the exact place of this information in the history of the mentioned monument, confronting them with the historic bibliography. These information are about the period from the end of the 14th century until the mid-16th century, after the Church Reform.
Keywords: The Black Church, Braşov, Kronstadt, Ostermayer, Mural Chronicle of Braşov
Gormandizer criticism and its ineffables
The present study departs from the observation that the adventure of writing always starts with eating letters; when one passes from writing to reading, this accidental misspelling is transformed into a real, organical, bodily voracity, quite close to eroticism. Even some of the most professional readers still preserve this physical connection with the fictional universe. The examples provided and analyzed by the author are both from the real world (long-run professional readers like Nicolae Manolescu, Roland Barthes, Michel Tournier) and from the fictional worlds (Don Quixote, Des Esseintes etc.)
Keywords: literature and sensation, literature and physical stimuli, the pleasure of the text, fiction as nourishment, Don Quixote, Roland Barthes, Michel Tournier
Fiddling, Gypsyness and Picturesque. Survivals of the Drinking Song in Interwar Prose
Starting from the observation of the folksong’s (the “lăutărească” music) rich presence in the Romanian interwar novel, regardless of its poetics – be it traditional, modernist or experimental, the text is trying to figure out a Romanian morphology of the fiddler performance. As illustrated by several scenes in these novels, the folksong represents a popular form, anachronistic and minor, related to Romany folklore. Our essay investigates the resources of such musical background, trying to establish their political meaning.
Keywords: Gypsies, Fiddler (the “lăutar”), folksong, Interwar novel
“From the Mosaic of The Romanian-Slovak Relations in the 20th Century”
The study reviews Peter Kopecky’s study on The Romanian-Slovak Relations in the 20th Century, insisting on the Slovak author’s excellent knowledge of the Romanian history and language (Peter Kopecky used to serve between 1997 and 2002 as an ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Romania and in the Republik of Moldavia). The study is focused mainly on the difficult period between 1944 and 1947, when the communist turn happened. Peter Kopecky makes use of valuable information regarding postwar Romania taken from the Slovak archives; the reviewer insists therefore on the necessity of having this important study translated into Romanian.
Keywords: modern and contemporary Romanian history, Romanian-Slovak relations, history of communism in Romania, the communist turn